Blowing-engine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. L. WEIMER.

BLOWING ENGINE.

Patented Dec. 14, 1886.

(No Model.)

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(No Model.) Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 8. P. L. WEIMER.

BLOWING ENGINE. No. 354,279.. Patented Dec. 14, 1886.

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. l""llllllullllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER L. VEIMER, OF LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA..

BLOWlNG-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,279, dated December14,1886.

Application filed April 1Q, 1F86. Serial No. 198,657. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER L. WEIMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lebanon, in the county of Lebanon and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blowing-Engines;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the-invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of machines known to the art asblowing-engines, which are distinguished from air-compressors in thatthey are designed with special reference to supplying large quantitiesof 'air at a comparatively low degree of pressure, varying from aboutthree to fourteen pounds pressure. 'Under the old constructions ofblowing-engines they were limited in their speed to from twelve tofifteen revolutions per minute. This limited speed was entirely due tothe construction of the air-valves of the blowing-cylinder, they beingtoo large to admit of rapid action and their lift or travel too great tosuggest an attempt to secure the entire area of admission or discharge.l

In order to overcome the disadvantages at-' tending the old form ofblowing-engine, I designed the engine patented by me August 22, 1876,No. 181,295, and reissued January 21, 1879, No. 8,545, in which thefirst practical and successful effort was put forth to increase,

the valve-area of a blowing-engine and keep the stroke or-lift of thevalve within such limits as to render high speed of the piston possible.The engine referred to was improved and secured by Letters Patentgranted Ato me December 30, 1884, No. 309,904, in

which the cumbersome flexible valves were displaced by small metalvalves.

In the several constructions of engines referred to it was ascertainedby their practical operation that a large percentage of the powerapplied was lost or absorbed by the blowingcylinder. After a number ofeirperiments, in which much time was consumed and large expenseincurred, it was discovered that the defeet lay in the want ofsufficient area'of the dischargevalves and in their manner ofconstruction. Aresistahoe of from one to two and one-half poundspressure was encountered in forcing the air through the contracted areaof the discharge valves. "When dischargevalves of small area were used,it was also found that considerable power was absorbed in raising thevalves from their seats, the difference of area between the top andunder side of the valve increasing as the diameter of the valves wasreduced. Thus with a valve of five (5) inches area under t-he valve andsix and one-half (6i) inches on top, with the engine blowing ten (10)pounds, the pressure on top ofthe valve would besixty-two (62) pounds.To overcome this back-pressure and allow. the valve to open, thepressure in the blowingcylinder must be increased to twelve and onehalf(12%) pounds. As the diameter of the valve increases,this differencebetween its top and bottom area decreases; hence the advantage in usinglarge discharge-valves.

In the use of large discharge-valves the air on top and under the valveacts as a cushion to prevent a too rapid opening or closing of thevalve. Thus, when the piston has moved sufficiently far tofraise thedischarge-valve, thc pressure of air on its back or top preventsa-sudden rising of the valve, and itrises only far enough from itsseat'to allow the air to pass. This distance of rise or lift is inproportion to the amount of air discharging from the blowing-cylinder,due to the speed of the engine; hence-the discharge-valves should havesufficient area provided for the maximumspeed of the engine.

After a series of costly experiments I succeeded in fixing the combineddischarge-valve area at one-fifth of the area of the blowingcylinder incross-section, or the area of the piston-head,(the piston moving at aspeed of four hundred feet per minuta) by dividing the com bined area ofthe discharge-opening int-o a number of valves, so that the maximum liftof each valve shall not exceed one and onehalf inch. With thisproportion of discharge-valve area to the cross-sectional area of theblowing-cylinder the difference of pressnre on the top and bottom ofeach valve is reduced as far as practical with a lift or risc that shallnot be so great as to induce slamming or pounding. Then the piston speedis full, the valve will rise its full height, but will do so gradually.As the piston ap proaches the end of iis stroke the quantity of airpassing through the valve diminishes and thevalve approachesits seatgradually. When the piston speed is not full, the discharge-valves openonly in proportion to the amount of air flowing through them withoutjar7 or slam,77 as before mentioned. The receivingvalves when openinghave no air-pressure on the top of them, and the under side, being freeto atmospheric pressure, opens very rapidly and with great force; henceit was found necessary to reduce their area and consequent lift to aminimum. A'lift of nine-sixteenths of an inch and an area of live incheshas, by practice, been demonstrated as the most suitable both foropening and closing quickly and without injury to their moving parts.The combined area of the receiving-valves can be reduced to one-sixth orone-seventh of the area of the blowing-cylinder when the piston ismoving at four hundred (400) feet per minute. Y

To secure the greatest efficiency attainable in the high-speedblowing-engine, Ihave retained the small quick -acting inlet-valvesshown in my patent of December 30, 1884, and introduced largedischarge-valves, as will hereinafter be fully explained.

It has heretofore been proposed in singleacting air-pumps to use smallinlet-valves iu the piston and a single discharge-valve covering one endof the cylinder, the object being to get the full area of the cylinderin the discharge of its contents. rIhis effort has, however, been afailure, for the reason that the valve was not provided with suflicientlift to secu re said area in the discharge of the cylinder. Furthermore,devices which may be used with a comparative degree of success inaircompressors are Wholly inoperative and inapplicable toblowing-engines, on account of the difference in the speed at which theyare operated and the quantities of air they are re-V quired to supply.

In my construction I arrange the inlet and outlet valves in annularseries in a chamber outside of the blowing-cylinder, which is a commonform of blowing-engine in use in f Europe as early as 1867 and 1868, andfully illustrated in printed publications. While I avail myself of thisold feature (which is public property) in the construction of my engine,I make a radical departure from the valve arrangement used in any formerblowing-engine of which I have any knowledge.

With the foregoing objects in view, my present invention consists intheconstructions hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specication,Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a blowing-cylinder; Fig. 2, aplan view of the same on the lines A B C of Fig. 1, showing theinlet-valves, the discharge-valves, and the removable covers for thedischarge-valve chambers; Fig. 3, a vertical section of thedischarge-valve and its connection, and Fig. 4. a plan of the same. Fig.5 is an enlarged sectional view showing one of the discharge-valves opento its full eX- tent and the relation of the foot on the lower link tothe back of the valve for limiting its throw. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 arediagrammatic views, respectively, of the section shown on lines A, B',and C of Fig. 1.

Reference being had to the drawings and the letters marked thereon, A isthe cylinder; B, the piston, provided with the usual packing, a.

C and D are annular chambers formed around the upper and lower ends ofthe cylinder A, into which air from the cylinder is delivered by thepiston, and from which it is discharged through the opening E. The topand bottom covers of said annular chambers are made in separatesections, each being a segment of a circle, and they vary in numberaccording to the diameter of the blowing-cylinder. In the cylinder shownthe covers are formed in eight (8) sections. The lower sections, F, areprovided with a number of openings, which are closed by thereceiving-valves b. (Shown in my Patent No. 309,904.) rlhe uppersurfaces of these sections are planed off smooth, and form a seat forthe valves b, thus enabling me to prepare the seats for all of thevalves in each section at one operation, whichl .ries of large openings,c, which are provided with removable hoods d, in each of which is formeda recess or pocket, e, to receive one end of a spring, f.

H are discharge-valves, which are located directly over the inlet-valvesb, and are each of about five (5) to seven (7) times the area of each ofsaid inlet-valves. From the back of each discharge-valve H projectparallel guide-bars g g, between which are secured links h z by boltsj7a, and the opposite ends of said links are secured to a bracket, Z,attached to the wall of the annular chambers C D by suitable bolts. Onthe lower link, t', is formed a footpiece, m, which crosses a portion ofthe valve, and when the valve is thrown open by the discharging air thefo'ot-piecestrikes the back of 'the valve H and limits its rise or lift,as shown, in Fig. 5. On the upper ends of the parallel bars g g isformed a cup, n, in which the lower end of the spring f is supported.The tension IOC) of the spring closes the valve after each stroke of thepiston has been completed.

By attaching the valves H to the links h i they may be used in anydesirable position, as they will operate with the same efficiencywhether they be applied in a vertical, horizontal, or angular position,and in practice their lift is found to be about one and one-half inch.The valves H are seated upon a substance softer than metal-such asrubber, leather, wood, or other analogous materialwhich is embedded inan annular recess, o, formed in the casting.

Upon reference to my former patent, No. 309,904, it will be observedthat in my present construction I have greatly increased the dimensionsor area ofthe annular chambers C D, which receive the air from the endsof the cylinder A. This feature of change was necessary to accommodatethe increased supply of air total of the areas of the discharge-valvesin each head is slight-ly in excess of the sum total of the areas of theinlet-valves. Practice has also demonstrated that very good results canbe obtained by the application of dischargevalves of slightly more thandouble the area of the inlet-valves.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. Inablowing-engine,avalvehaving1nove ment at a right angle to the plane ofits seat, in combination with a swinging link attached thereto andprovided with a foot or projection the face of which is in a planecorresponding with the back of the valve, whereby the rise of the valveis controlled, substantially as described. Y

2. In a blowing-engine, a valve having parallel guide-bars projectingfrom its back, in combination with swinging links attached thereto, oneof which is provided with a foot or projection crossing' a portion ofthe valve, and adapted to be struck thereby to limit the lift of thevalve, substantiallyas shown and described.

3. In ablowing-engine,avalvehavingswinging links pivotally connectedthereto and to a fixed portion of the structure, in combination with aspring interposed between the valve and one of the Walls of thevalve-chamber, substantially as described.

4. In a blowing-engine, a valve-chamber having a series of removablecovers provided with recesses or sockets, in combination with a valvehaving swinging links pivotally connected thereto and a springinterposed between a the valve and the cover and seated in sockets,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix' my signa-ture in presence of twoWitnesses.

PETER L. 'WEIMER lfitnesses:

J. WEIDMAN MURRAY, XV. B. BoGER.

